HEC new chief | FDE no holiday on saturdays

Education circles keep on guessing as suspense of new HEC chief lingers on
Islamabad, Dec 03: The Supreme Court's (SC) new direction to the federal government for
selection of a regular chairperson of the Higher Education Commission
(HEC) and recent appointments on important positions in last few days by
Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has enhanced the hope of the long-awaited
nomination of the HEC chairperson in coming weeks.

The
apex court has directed the federal government to make appointment of a
regular chairperson of the Higher Education Commission (HEC) within 15
days. The SC further remarked that no acting appointment could be made
on regular posts.

A three-member bench of the Supreme
Court, led by Justice Nasir ul Mulk, took up the case of Law College for
hearing on Wednesday. During the course of hearing, the court was told
that two names have been short-listed for appointment of the HEC
chairperson and consultation process is underway in this respect. Imtiaz
Hussain Gillani has recently been appointed as acting HEC chairman.

The
court expressed dissatisfaction over the appointment of acting HEC
chairman and remarked "this is a regular post and neither any ad hoc
appointment can be made against this post nor an acting chairman can be
appointed."

The HEC, the policy-making institution in
higher sector of Pakistan, is working without a chairperson since August
26, 2013 when the first four-year term of Dr. Javaid Laghari ended.

Syed
Imtiaz Hussain Gilani was appointed as acting HEC chairman on November
9, 2013 till the appointment of a permanent and full-time HEC chairman.
At the same time, he is also looking after administrative affairs of
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa University of Engineering and Technology, Peshawar.

The
education experts believe that delay in the appointment is badly
damaging the higher education sector as the HEC chairperson takes the
key decisions regarding the functioning of national universities and
higher education institutions.

As per HEC Act, all key
decisions related to higher education have to be taken by the HEC Board,
which is headed by its chairman and the secretariat acts as the
executing wing of the HEC, which is responsible for implementation of
all orders, decisions, directives of the board.

A vice chancellor said that the quick decision for the
post of HEC chairperson would greatly help in discouraging ad hocism in
higher education sector. He expressed hope that the government would
appoint a well-reputed educationist on pure merit basis on this
important post.

Earlier, PML-N
leader Razina Alam Khan said that the prime minister will carefully
consider all options and nominate the most appropriate person for this
position. She said that after the appointment of Syed Imtiaz Hussain
Gilani as acting HEC chairman, the administrative affairs will be
managed aptly.

"The last government appointed Begum
Shehnaz Wazir Ali as acting HEC chairperson before taking final decision
for this important post," she said, adding that education is the
priority of present government and all decisions will be taken in the
greater interest of the country. She said that the PML-N government is
committed to strengthen higher education sector and would appoint
capable person for this important slot on merit.

Similarly,
in his address to the Vice Chancellors Committee meeting, Minister of
State for Education, Training and Standards in Higher Education Baligh
ur Rehman said that despite financial constraints the PML-N government
increased funding for the HEC. He said that they have proposed the
formation of a committee for the selection of HEC permanent chairperson.

Though
the Ministry of Education, Trainings and Standards in Higher Education
has moved a summary to the PM Secretariat supporting extension of the
contract of Dr. Laghari due to his contribution and a group of
parliamentarians from treasury benches has written a letter to Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif requesting him for the continuation of Laghari as
HEC chairman, the appointment of new chairperson is still a suspense for
academic circles which believe that it can also be a surprise.

Bahrians win declamation contest
Islamabad: Bahria College, Sector E-8, won the trophy in the final session of All
Pakistan Bilingual Declamation Contest held at the Fazaia Inter College
here on Thursday.

Pakistan Air Force Women's Association (PAFWA) President Begum Shehla Tahir was the chief guest on the occasion.

Talented
students of 22 schools and colleges from all over the country took part
in the competition. The participating speakers delivered speeches on
different topics. Begum Shehla Tahir awarded prizes to the winners.

First
prize in English speech was awarded to Feruzan Butt of Beaconhouse
School, Islamabad; whereas second prize was won by Nimra Khursheed of
Bahria College, E-8, Islamabad. In Urdu speech, first prize was awarded
to Faseeh-ur-Rehman of Bahria College, E-8, and second prize was given
to Mubeen-ur-Rehman of Fazaia Model Inter College, Mushaf (Sargodha).

Begum
Shehla Tahir appreciated the public speaking skills of the students of
various schools and colleges. She reiterated that students should
actively take part in co-curricular activities for their grooming and
confidence-building.

No holiday on Saturdays in FDE institutions
Islamabad: The federal government has announced to end Saturday as weekly holiday
in the F G educational institutions from December 7.

According
to Ministry of Capital Administration and Development (CAD) Joint
Secretary Rafique Tahir, there would be no weekly holiday on Saturday in
all educational institutions falling under the Federal Directorate of
Education (FDE) from December 7.

He said the decision had
been taken to enable teaching staff cover syllabi of their respective
subjects by the time annual examinations start in March next year.

Model college teachers to observe strike on Dec 3
Islamabad: The teaching staff of Islamabad Model Colleges would boycott the
academic work in protest against the apathetic attitude of the officials
of Ministry of Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD)
towards their demands on December 3 (Tuesday), says a press release
issued by Central Academic Staff Association (CASA) of Islamabad Model
Colleges here.

According to the press release, the
teaching community of senior and junior sections of the model colleges
would go on a complete strike for indefinite period against the proposed
merger of the model colleges with the federal government schools and
colleges in the name uniformity rather the move is aimed at ruining the
standard of education being maintained at the model colleges.

The
Casa spokesman Mehbub Ali said that the junior lady teachers (JLTs)
working in BPS-16 were denied up-gradation announced by the prime
minister in 2010 but the same facility was being given to the teachers
working in the same grade in federal government schools, He said that
the discriminatory attitude of the CADD ministry officials was of a
serious concern for them. He said that the nomenclature of the Senior
Lady Teachers (SLTs) had also been changed into Secondary School
Teachers (SSTs) which stood nowhere in the model college setup.

He
said that the model college teachers and non-teaching staff were also
being discriminated in the grant of their hiring allowance while the
staff of the federal government institutions was being facilitated by
all means.

He said that the CADD ministry and the
education minister should look into the whole matter and redress the
grievances of the model college teachers forthwith otherwise the
teaching staff would continue the strike till their demands were met. The news

UoP to start joint degree programmes
Peshawar: The University of Peshawar (UoP) and Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM) will start joint degree programmes in
departments that are the most strongest in the respective varsities.

This was decided in a meeting of the visiting five-member Malaysian
delegation, led by the USM vice-chancellor Prof Dato Dr Omar Osman, with
UoP VC Prof
Mohammad Rasul Jan, according to a press release issued here on Friday.

The two sides resolved to take benefit from each other's strength and
exchange student faculty, as was decided in the MoU signed earlier this
year for three years between them.

The UoP and USM – also referred to as University of Science, Malaysia
– acceded to the idea of taking the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government on
board for collaboration in diverse fields to enhance the
university-industry cooperation in future and prepare a working paper in
this connection for the upcoming visit of Malaysian prime minister to
Islamabad early next year.

With 45 disciplines the UoP offers diverse courses ranging from
social sciences to natural, humanities and applied sciences, said Prof
Jan while briefing the delegation.

He said that in the past few months about 100 PhD faculties had been
added to the existing pool which reinforced the departments to impart
quality education and research among students. He called for enhancing
cooperation among the two universities. Dawn